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Airport-BART Connection Materializing Amid Cost Disputes

January 8, 2012, 3pm PST

Nearly 10 years in the works, a connector between Oakland International Airport and the BART transit system is taking shape.

"Within two years, cable-drawn, three-car trains will transport passengers from the Coliseum BART station to Oakland International Airport along an elevated track that proponents of the project say will be faster and more reliable than the current AirBART bus system.

For them, the columns signify an important victory in a long and hard-fought battle over a new transportation connection that, they say, will not only ensure continued growth at Oakland's airport but also provide much needed construction jobs for Bay Area workers.

Once completed, the almost $500 million connector will have created at least 2,500 jobs, proponents predict, and offer the Bay Area a signature extension to a growing transportation network much like the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge or the international terminal at San Francisco's airport."

But opponents still argue the project is a waste that will put taxpayers even deeper in debt.